The Spanish giants keep throwing amorous glances the way of the Spanish stopper, as they eye a replacement for Iker Casillas, the World Cup winner having turned from club hero to public enemy No.1 in the eyes of some supporters.

Louis van Gaal is playing hardball over a keeper who for many is now very much in the conversation when you’re talking about the world’s best, but De Gea’s want is to return to his homeland with the 10-time European champions. His contract continues to run down - now with just 12 months left - and it would appear that he will be a Madrid player, either this summer or next.

If the time is now, then the question becomes about how do United replace him? Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris, Jasper Cillesen of Ajax and Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak have all been mentioned in the conversation of potential successors.

Stay or go: United are playing hardball, but De Gea seems set to leave (Image: Alex Livesey)

“He’s got a wealth of experience and has won everything in the game. He will probably be a suitable candidate and fill that gap.”

And why couldn’t he?

Fully recovered from the knee injury which wrecked a move to Monaco following his departure from Barcelona, Valdes has been eased into life at United since arriving at Carrington to continue his rehab last October.

Replacement: Valdes has a wealth of experience under his belt (Image: EMPICS)

The 33-year-old, who previously worked with Van Gaal in Catalunya earlier in their respective careers, signed an 18-month deal in January to act as De Gea’s backup, as his compatriot enjoyed an outstanding season. As such, Valdes only appeared in under-21 matches - rediscovering his sharpness - for the first four months of his deal, before being thrust into first-team action on the penultimate weekend of the season against Arsenal.

That was his first appearance at senior level in some 14 months and the following week he made his first start, keeping a clean sheet in the goalless draw at Hull, as the Tigers were relegated from the Premier League.

Now, Valdes faces returning to pre-season with United's goalkeeper situation very much in the air - and it's a situation which history would suggest he's more than capable of grasping with both hands.

Back in 2002, he entered the season at Barca as third-choice for the first team, expected only to feature for the 'B' side regularly under the club's returning Dutch manager - Van Gaal.

The Argentine Roberto Bonano and new signing Robert Enke were expected to square off to be first-choice over the course of the campaign, but over pre-season and the early part of the 2002-03 campaign, neither impressed Van Gaal. Enke, who would label it "the most difficult goalkeeping position in Europe", struggled with the particular technical demands while Bonano, despite having been first-choice in the previous campaign, was identified as little more than a stop gap until something better came along.

Breakthrough: A young Valdes in Champions League action against Newcastle (Image: Daily Mirror)

On the other hand, a 20-year-old Valdes did impress.

Having grown up at La Masia, he was perfectly accustomed to the demands Van Gaal placed on his goalkeepers; wanting them to sweep up behind his defence, to hold a high position, to be proactive, to, on occasion, almost act like an outfield player.

Those particular customs haven't changed for Van Gaal in the intervening years. While the 62-year-old has grown more pragmatic with age - witness his Dutch side at the 2014 World Cup - he still wants his keeper to be advanced positionally, prepared to use his feet for both the offensive and defensive phase. Even as United's style developed last season, they remained the side who passed the ball back to their goalkeeper more than any other.

In De Gea, United have perhaps the premier goalkeeper anywhere in Europe where using his feet is concerned. Comfortable with either right or left, it has been a major strength of De Gea's not merely at Old Trafford, but even during his growth at Atletico Madrid.

Valdes too is excellent with the ball on the deck. His distribution has been honed and sculpted in 19 years at Barcelona, from youth to first team levels. In many respects, if you can't have De Gea, he's the ideal replacement.

Decisive: Valdes makes a crucial save from Henry in the 2006 Champions League final (Image: Getty)

But more than just those technical similarities, the five-time winner of Spain's Zamora Trophy - awarded to the keeper in Spain with the lowest goals-to-game ratio - is also a fine shot-stopper, who, critically, has made a career of big saves at crucial moments.

Then-Barca boss Frank Rijkaard hailed him as "decisive" after the 2006 Champions League final, where he stopped Thierry Henry twice in the opening five minutes and again in the 68th when Arsenal's all-time record scorer was one-on-one. It was a similar story in 2009, as he almost single-handedly repelled an early United onslaught in Rome. On both occasions, he kept his side in the game.

That speaks both to his on-field quality and also his mentality. He developed into a leader of the Blaugrana dressing room, a driving force behind 21 major trophies over a 10-year period from 2004.

"There is a lot of pressure, and the demands I put on myself to make sure Barca win is a heavy weight to carry," declared Valdes, 12 months ahead of his Camp Nou departure.

The club's supporters begged him not to go, such was the consistency of his performances, the growth of the man and the good feeling that he had earned over the years. However, he felt a new challenge was needed and wanted to immerse himself in football elsewhere.

Valdes has spent the last 14 months on the outside-looking in, a situation which can only have felt bizarre. At no point since his Barcelona 'B' debut in 2000 has that happened, other than on the international stage, where 20 caps doesn't do justice to his talent.

Now, as United prepare for pre-season, you can bet he's preparing to make up for lost time. Leaving Barcelona meant he missed the opportunity to become the first goalkeeper to win four European Cups last season. But he's perfectly positioned to be the man to profit from De Gea's looming departure and is, perhaps more than any other, the ideal candidate.